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About this blog: I am a perpetually hungry twenty-something journalist, born and raised in Menlo Park and currently working at the Palo Alto Weekly as education and youth staff writer. I graduated from USC with a major in Spanish and a minor in jo... (More)

About this blog: I am a perpetually hungry twenty-something journalist, born and raised in Menlo Park and currently working at the Palo Alto Weekly as education and youth staff writer. I graduated from USC with a major in Spanish and a minor in journalism. Though my first love is journalism, food is a close second. I am constantly on the lookout for new restaurants to try, building an ever-expanding "to eat" list. As a journalist, I'm always trolling news sources and social media websites with an eye for local food news, from restaurant openings and closings to emerging food trends. When I was a teenager growing up in Menlo Park, I always drove up to the city on weekends with the singular purpose of finding a better meal than I could at home. But in the past year or so, the Peninsula's food culture has been totally transformed, with many new restaurants opening and a continuous stream of San Francisco restaurants coming south to open Peninsula outposts. Don't navigate this food boom hungry and alone! Feed me your tips on new chefs and eats and together we'll share them with the broader community. (Hide)

Holiday food-and-drink goings on

Uploaded: Dec 16, 2016

Check out several upcoming holiday events of note on the Midpeninsula, from the return of two popular pop-ups to a latke cooking competition. This list will continue to be updated; check back for more events or feel free to share in the comment section.

@loveforbutter bake sale
Local pastry chef John Shelsta (@loveforbutter on Instagram) started holding weekend pop-ups in Palo Alto this year to epic success, regularly selling out. Get there early for his holiday bake sale on Saturday, Dec. 17, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Zola, 565 Bryant St., Palo Alto.

Latke competition
Get excited for the start of Hanukkah by watching four teams compete in a holiday latke-off at Whole Foods in Los Altos on Monday, Dec. 19. The potato pancakes will be judged by Effie Speigler, executive chef for the Oakland Coliseum; Kenji Lopez-Alt, managing culinary director for SeriousEats.com and author of "The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science;" Hadar Harris, executive director of the Northern California Innocence Project; and Andrew Siporen, a team leader for Whole Foods. They will also lead a discussion about what makes a great latke. The latke competition starts at 7 p.m., followed by the discussion at 8:30 p.m. and a "Food Lab" giveaway/book signing with Lopez-Alt at 8:45 p.m. Shoppers can sample the latkes during the competition. For more information, view the Facebook event.

Winter ale extravaganza at The Refuge
Head to The Refuge in downtown Menlo Park on Tuesday, Dec. 20, at 5 p.m. for holiday winter ale tastings that comes with a free gift (while supplies last). The beer and pastrami haven is located at 1143 Crane St.

Borrone MarketBar chef and co-owner Josh Pebbles helps a customer with a to-go order in 2014. Photo by Natalia Nazarova/Palo Alto Weekly.

Chestnut roasting at Shoreline Lake
What says the holidays more than chestnuts roasting on an open fire? Head to Shoreline Lake in Mountain View to do just that (barring inclement weather) on Thursday and Friday, Dec. 15-16, from 12:30-1:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 17-18, 1-3 p.m. at 3160 N. Shoreline Blvd. For more information, go to shorelinelake.com.